Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley criticized “rampant speculation by politicians,” about a whistleblower complaint regarding a call between President Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The whistleblower complaint details have not been disclosed but Democrats accuse Trump of dangling $250 million in security aid in exchange for Ukraine officials probing a corruption allegation against Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
“One thing we do know is that rampant speculation by politicians and the media is not helpful,” the Iowa Republican said on Monday.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of California, has invited acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire to testify publicly on Thursday about why he will not disclose the whistleblower allegation, leaked in part to the media, which Trump made some kind of promise to Zelensky.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is attempting to get Maguire to testify before the panel about the whistleblower complaint, but in a classified session.
Trump denied making any kind of promise to Zelensky.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Trump said. He called the allegations “fake news.”
Grassley blamed such speculation for what he called the debunked claim that Trump coordinated with Russian officials to win the 2016 presidential election. Information was regularly leaked to the media, helping to create a narrative, which many still believe, that Trump worked with the Russians to win the White House.
Grassley has called on the intelligence community inspector general to investigate those leaks.
“None of this should detract from investigating legitimate allegations of wrongdoing either at home or abroad,” Grassley said.
“That includes unauthorized disclosures of potentially classified information during the Russia investigation that I’ve asked the inspector general about.”
